


Of Fathers and Sons and Cycles

by LadyVisenya



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man - All Media Types, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Gen, Peter Parker Stark - Freeform, Tony Stark is Peter's Dad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-05
Updated: 2019-06-17
Packaged: 2020-02-26 20:26:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 19,759
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18724369
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyVisenya/pseuds/LadyVisenya
Summary: Scenes in the life of Peter Parker Stark.





	1. I. fatherhood

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’ll be a real man and take care of your son  
> Every problem you had before this day is now done  
> New crib, watch a movie cause ain’t nothin' on the news but the blues  
> Hit the mall, pick up some Gucci, now ain’t nothing new but your shoes
> 
> -"Murder to Excellence"

Pepper has been working for Mr. Stark “please just call me tony” for two years when she gets a phone call. Which isn't strange at all. The largest part of her job has to do with answering and fielding phone calls so that Tony doesn't have to deal with anyone who isn't her, Rhodey, and Obadiah in that order.

It's not even that surprising that it's a woman claiming to have had Mr. Starks son. With his playboy lifestyle, it wasn't surprising. 

“Look I get what this sounds like, and you people will probably want a paternity test,” the woman continues, filling in the silence left by Peppers platitudes, “but it's true and I think-I want my son to have his father in his life.”

The strain hurt in her voice, audible over the phone, tugs at her heart, the very thing she's learned to guard carefully while working. Pepper resolves to oversee the matter personally instead of delegating as she has done in the past at various instances of women claiming the same thing.

One of the reasons she's so good at her job is her ability to think on her toes and have a litany of contingency planes all sorted out for the various moods and happenings of Tony Stark who's a year younger than her and is about to step into the role as CEO of stark industries after taking a backseat and settling in as a board member and R&D project leader. 

Eye drops for hangovers and weed and cars ready after parties to take various women home. Manifests that are good for delays as a result of Tong losing track of the time in his lab. 

“What did you say your name was again,” Pepper asks out of politeness because the woman never did say her name. She would've remembered. 

“Mary Parker.”

“Okay Miss Parker just give me the details and I'll have someone over to collect a sample of hair. Meanwhile I'll inform Mr. Stark about his son.”

*

Mary can't help but smile as her son launches himself out of the car at the sight of his father standing outside the hotel, waiting for him with a bag of cheeseburgers. 

“Someone's excited,” Richard, her boyfriend soon to be husband, notes as the both get out of the car. He's helping the bellhop get the luggage out and she grins, ever the gentleman.

He's kind and dependable and working of the same biotech project she's on. And most importantly, he gets along with Peter, or did. Ever since she told him that she was getting married Peters been distant and moody around Richard. 

She's hope this trip with Tony and Richard will fix that. Make everyone get along like a real modern family even though the distance between New York City and Los Angeles feels immense even with the weekend trips Tony tries to stick to. 

Keyword, tries. 

Sometimes all Peter gets is a call and “sorry bud,” as Stark Industries drags Tony away. 

She's both relieved and annoyed that Rhodey's here. He'll be a mitigating any moods Tony falls into, where his sarcastic comments take a turn for the bitter and angry and has him reaching for whiskey without restraint.

But that means she'll have to put up with all the boys for the week. She should've invited her sister along, May would've been game. 

“Hey buddy, you've gotten so big,” Tony says, the total sum of his attention on his son, “sure you still like cheeseburgers or shall i give it to Rhodey?”

Peter laughs, wrapping his skinny arms around Tony, and May watches, hanging back with her bag and Richard. “It's only been a month dad!”

“And you lost a tooth!” Tony says surprised obvious in his eyes, glancing at Mary who shrugs. She can't help it. 

Mary's home was in New York. Her work was in New York. Her family was in New York. And they'd both agreed to Peter living with her and Tony being free to visit as long as he gave her a heads up, which mostly came from Pepper as they'd both complain about Tony over the phone.

Tony should be used to missing out on these things by now. 

“What do you mean,” Rhodey asks, “Did you not get me a burger? Because I told you too-”

“You didn't wait for me-”

“You were two hours late,” Rhodey protests as Peter laughs and Tony takes hands him the bag before picking him up and carrying him.

“Everything should be sorted,” Tony tells her.

For a second she's tempted to ask where they're going. She can't help it. Mary's a mother first and everything else second. But she doesn't, doesn't think she should in front of Richard and Rhodey because Peter’s Tony's son too. 

“I'll see you both for dinner then?” Mary asks, smiling as Peter catches her gaze before burying his head into his dad’s neck. She really hopes this works. That Peter gets whatever he's feeling out because as much as she loves Richard. She will postpone the wedding if Peter continues on like this. 

“Yup.”

“Bring them back in time,” Mary says, looking to Rhodey. Tony was hopeless at being on time.

“Of course Mary.” Rhodey says, ever the kind soldier, “Nice meeting you Richard.”

“Likewise.” Richard says in acknowledgement. 

“Richard.”

“Tony.”

And then they're disappearing into a sports car.

*

They're waiting in line to ride it's a small world, again. All for Peter. 

It's was obvious at a glance who Peter resembled, Mary. There was little of Tony in there. 

Right now he was pouting despite the churros in his hand. 

“What's wrong buddy,” Tony asks him gently, “ready to call it a day?” 

Rhodey still remembers the night he'd found out his best friend, his party boy genius best friend who shrunk from his responsibilities like a petulant kid, had a son. Bottle in hand, eyes wide in shock, laying on his sofa.

He'd been lost and scared and Rhodey only had cliche advice to give, another man married to his work. 

It had been Pepper who rolled her eyes, told him to get on a plane and be a dad, be the man Pepper caught glimpses of between meetings and parties, the man Rhodey had met at MIT, obsessed with figuring out what to do with spent nuclear fuel. 

It had felt like family then, the three of them sharing a drink and teasing Tony about fatherhood. Had become family since then, dragging Tony home for Christmas and watching him at a loss.

Peter shakes his head, silent for a change and Rhodey, a Stark expert knows this means something's wrong. Starks never shut up much to his dismay.

“Wanna tell me about it,” Tony pushes gently, “That could help. And maybe I could try and take care of it?”

Peter stays silent, eyes on the ground. 

“Can't help you if you don't let me bud.”

Peter’s pout deepens, and Tony and Rhodey exchange looks. 

Tony sighs, at a loss. Rhodey can't blame him. Kids are hard. Being a parent is hard. He doesn't have to have kids to know that much.

They move up to wait for the boats, ready to loaded. It had been Tony's idea to come here, on the very rare occasion that Peter came here instead of the other way around.

In a small voice, Peter finally utters, as they step into the boats, “Can I live with you?” 

Tony looks over at Rhodey in alarm and he can only shrug back.  _ Your problem here Tones. I'm just the fun uncle. The moral support. _

It was up to Tony to explain that no, he couldn't. Because of lots of things like Mary having custody, and Tony traveling for work a lot to Nevada for weapons testing, to New York, for business to Washington DC to meet with the military and members of the pentagon, and staying up all hours of the night finishing projects. 

Deflecting, Tony asks, “Why buddy? Mom not give you frosted flakes for bed?”

Peters crinkles his nose and shakes his head. “Just cause.”

“Oh no you don't,” Tony teases gently, “first you have to say Los Angeles is much cooler than New York.”

Peter giggles, “the pizza is better in new york!” Like any true new yorker would.

The answers clear and they'd talked about this. Tony had told him and Pepper how Mary was worried about Peter, worried about the impact of her getting married on him, thinking it was too much change. To his credit, Tony had never been an ass about that. About Mary dating and finding someone.

Tony had been truly happy for her. Had a friendship with the mother of his child and wanted her to be happy.

But Rhodey doubts Tony knows how to go about talking to about all that to a five year old who probably hoped his parent would work out and get married because what kid wouldn't hope for  _ that _ . 

“I know,” Tony states, “we’re going to have to get some next time I'm in town.”

It's obviously the wrong thing to say because Peter immediately deflated, curling up in Tony's arms. “Peter?”

“Are you gonna come?”

“To what?”

“Momswedding?”

Tong shrugs honestly, “Do you want me to?”

“Idontwanttogo. I wanna stay with you,” Peter whines. 

Tony winces in sympathy, “I thought you liked your mom’s boyfriend. Didn’t he take you to that baseball game.” He makes a face, nose scrunched up in distaste. Tony was only about sports that gave you an adrenaline rush, taking Rhodey up on all his jet lesson offers with gusto. 

“I guess?”

“Then what happened?”

Peter shrugs. 

The cheery singing and bright colors provide a jarring contrast to Peter’s sulking and silence. Rhodey thinks Pepper might have been better suited for this outing, but then who would fend off the boardroom wolves that were always nagging Tony. After years of handling Tony, he thinks Pepper must be handling the company with ease for the day. 

“Peter,” Tony starts carefully, “you know you can always talk to me. I’m your dad. And I’m always going to be here for you. Or on the next plane out. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for you kid. And nothing’s going to change that. Got it?”

Peter hugs Tony hard, “can we go on the white mountain next?”

“Of course kiddo!”

*

Tony shows up three days late, after disappearing for the week. He hadn’t even bothered to call. That’s what really pissed Mary off. 

She’d called Pepper. Hell, she’d called Rhodey, but Tony had been to busy doing god knows what with god knows who to even bother calling his son to say happy birthday when he’d promised to be here. 

“I’m sorry Mary,” he says, smile strained as he tries peering over her shoulder, large dark brown eyes, the same as her son’s, standing on the doorstep, “I messed up. But I’m here now,” gift bag in his hand. 

Peter had called, had called him ten times before giving up. Had refused to cut his cake until the next day. In short it had ruined his birthday party that he’d been so excited about, inviting all his class, playing seventeen rounds of guitar hero with his best friend Ned. 

“You couldn’t even call! Really Tony,” Mary says, not bothering to keep her voice down, her hand tight against the door, holding it it open without inviting him inside. 

“I fucked up.”

“Yeah, you did. And I get that you’re a very important man and you run a company and you’re really fucking smart Tony but so am I and I’m here because my son needs me to be. I can’t just disappear on him.”

“Mary can I just see Peter,” Tony utters, voice heavy, desperate. “I need to see him, to talk to him. It won’t happen again.”

“When-you said you wanted to be a part of his life. That means being here when you say you’re going to. He’s your son Tony! Not just some-you can’t do shit like this. I want him to have his father, but if you can’t-if you can’t be a father, then I don’t want you around my son!” It’s hard, but Mary’s a mother and she never wants to see her son as sad as he has been these last few days.

Pepper had offered to fly here last minute for fuck’s sake and Peter wasn’t even her son!

Tony winces and Mary’s glad she hit a nerve. She can only hope he gets it and changes. “I’m sorry,” he says quietly, “I’m sorry.”

Mary swallows down the anger that feels hot and raw in her chest, at the sight of him. She had wanted her son to have a father, but- “being a father is more than just being biologically related Tony,” she tells him, eyes narrowed, “it’s more than signing a check every month.” 

“I know Mary.”

“Do you?”

“I just want to see my son.” Tony repeats, voice cracking. 

Satisfied that she’s made her point, Mary lets him in, sure he’ll fallow inside. She can’t remember if he’s been inside since they’d moved in. A house, finally. With Richard’s shoes there, a picture of her and Peter and May on that wall, drawings Peter had made on the fridge, mugs they’d painted together, Richard’s idea, in the sink. 

“I’ll go get him,” Mary says, leaving Tony alone with Richard. 

Richard who’d tried to cheer Peter up, who’d been there. 

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Tony’s been flaky before. Hadn’t made it when he said he would before, but there was usually a call at least. 

It makes her wonder if she’d made the right call when she’d gotten in touch with Tony to begin with. Maybe it would have been better not to have ever told him. To have Peter all to herself. 

“Honey,” she says, poking her head into Peter’s open door, where he’s sitting on his bed, tinkering with some spare computer parts Ben and him had found at the flea market. It was great having May and Ben there. Better than having to find a stranger to babysit. “You’re dad’s here.” 

It’s crazy to think how big he is now. Seven. Already in first grade. Shit. He’d be in high school before she knew it.

“I don’t care,” he says, brow furrow, eyes wet. 

“Peter,” she says, silently in agreement, “don’t you think you should at least go talk to him?”

“I don’t want to,” he says, roughly wiping the tears in his eyes, refusing to budge even as she sat down next to him. 

“What do you want me to tell him then?”

“I don’t want to see him.”

Mary sighs. Knows he’ll regret it before long, but she isn’t going to make Peter go downstairs either. “Should I tell him to come around next week?”

Peter stays silent.

“He’s your dad Peter.”

His hands still, setting the circuit board down. 

“Peter?”

“I don’t want to see him.”

“Okay.”

And she goes downstairs to tell Tony. She’s sure Peter’ll come around. He loves his dad. Lights up when he visits. He’s just hurt and needs time.

*

One night Mary and Richard are dropping Peter off, all smiles and last minutes kisses and “I love you Peter,” and, “be good for your aunt and uncle,” and next she’s getting a call saying her sister, her smart beautiful younger sister, the one her parents called their miracle baby after years of wanting a second child, is dead. 

May drops the phone. 

And then Ben’s rushing to her, calling a cab, “Let me get my jacket,” he’s telling her and she shakes her head. 

“No,” she tells him, distantly, feeling like she’s a stranger in her own body, like this has to be somebody else’s life. Some other unluck woman’s life. “Stay with Peter.” And fuck. 

Mary can’t be dead. Richard can’t be dead. Peter needs his mom, needs her family and oh god she’s going to have to call Stark. 

She can’t do it. May can’t do this all. It’s too much. Peter’s eight, gonna turn nine soon. He needs-Mary, her sister. 

Oh, god. Oh, god. 

She feels cold despite her jacket and sweater, pulled over her pajamas. There’s still dirty snow on the ground, and strands of christmas lights up. 

The doctor places a hand on her shoulder as she identifies her sister. May wants to throw up but there’s no time for that now as she signs the paper, and it feels out of body. She knows the doctor’s touching her but she can’t feel it and how’s she supposed to tell Peter? 

How’s she going to tell her parents?

How do you go about preparing a funeral?

She feels sick and cold and empty all at once. 

They were going to go get pancakes in the morning. Mary had just gotten a promotion. They were all planning a cruise along with her parents for the summer.

Mary with her light auburn hair and easy smile, never had a bad word to say about anyone. She’d always been the one to win award and stay in studying while May had been busy at parties, sneaking in past dawn and running off to go protest oil pipelines. 

Had run off to protest the war. 

And now she’d never see Mary again. Not really. Never hear her sister complain about the lack of funding. Having to pay to study patented genes and how dumb patent law was. She’d never hug her again and tease her for being a nerd. 

And Peter-

How was she supposed to tell Peter.

*

The funeral’s a somber affair. It’s January and the sky’s dark and gloomy and it rains as they make it out to Jersey. 

Pepper had managed to pry the bottle from Tony’s fingers before they’d laned two days ago, making up excuses for everyone for why Tony Stark had to run off just as they were about to launch a new missile into production. 

She watches as the two coffins are alid into the earth to rest. Listens to all the kind words and cries. 

Mary had always been kind to her. A sharp woman who’d invited her out for drinks when she was in town, drinks and hot greasy pizza, the best kind, and a good game of ice hockey. Who called Pepper last minute and asked what people even wore to fancy galas when she was invited to one.

Despite the layer of professionalism Pepper tried to keep even after years as Tony’s right hand woman, a thin layer but still, Mary and been more than Peter’s mom to her, more than just a person she dealt with for Tony, she’d also been her friend.

She watches as Peter hugs Tony, crying, with red rimmed eyes, and dark circles under his eyes and wonders if they room she’d sorted out from day one for Peter back in Malibu will be put to good use. 

No one’s brought it up yet. 

Between the-

And the driver lived because of course he did.

The world was unjust on top of being unfair. 

*

Long after everyone’s left, after Pepper had kicked her out of the kitchen and had gone straight to putting everything away and cleaning up, only stopping to pull her into a hug, letting May sob, cry like she’d wanted to all day, Peter falls asleep and she’s left with a hole where her sister once was. 

“I laid him up in your guest room,” Tony says, sitting down on the couch next to her Ben, looking as punched as she feels. 

“That’s-,” her voice cracks and she looks to Ben, unable to sit down, unable to stop because she’s really gone. She’s in the earth and the worms will be eating her soon and if she stops- she can’t live with that. 

Pepper pours them out drinks. “It’s supposed to help,” she offers, sounding doubtful herself. 

May takes a long gulp, downing it in one go, before telling Tony, “We should probably talk about-,” she gets too choked up to finish. She can’t stop. She can’t let herself rest because then she’ll just be left with that empty seat in her soul where her sister once was. 

Still stuck on that night, waiting for her to come home even though she knows that she won’t. 

“Oh yes,” Pepper utters, digging into her bag and coming up with a folder, “I have all the paperwork here. Mary had sent a copy of her will and testament for our records.” She sniffles, smiling apologetically. 

“Pepper you’re an angel,” Tony remarks, looking over at her the same way Ben had when he asked her to marry him the day they met so long ago among the trees as dozens of businessmen calculated the profits of destroying a forest. 

“I couldn’t sit around,” she says, pain visible in the lines of her forced smile, more for them then anything. 

With the foremost gentleness, she meets her eyes as she utters, “she wanted you to look after Peter should anything happen to her.” 

“I-,” she looks around. At Ben, his once brown hair streaked with grey, with sad set eyes that lent him an air of wisdom and sadness despite his outgoing nature, at Tony, hands shaking as he hold his empty glass, stupid goatee still in place. 

They’d never had kids, never planned to. Between backpacking around India, bouncing around with Greenpeace from protest to protest, trying to stop pipelines and waste dumps being built among small towns written off as collateral much like the midwest town of Ben’s youth, everything else had taken a back seat. 

This’ll mean taking a job here. Full time. Not just dropping in and being with Ben between projects because her sister, her baby sister entrusted the thing most precious to her, Peter. 

“It makes sense,” Tony finally says, breaking the silence, “He’s grown up here all his life. And-he shouldn’t be uprooted. He needs stability.”

“I’m sure he also wants his dad right now,” Ben tells him, clasping a hand on his shoulder, “I can’t imagine how hard it must be for him. He needs you.”

Tony closes his eyes, swallowing hard. 

“I’ll clear your schedule after afghanistan,” Pepper offers, already pulling out a phone labelled, bible, “and I’m sure I can get a place nearby for you.”

“Afghanistan,” May asks, sure she heard wrong. 

“We’re launching a new missile and some top brass want me to be there,” he responds, sighing. “It should just be two days.”

“Probably why Mary choose me,” May says ruefully. 

Tony laughs humorlessly, “I-my dad was never around. Always working and I never wanted to be like him and yet-god.”

“You’re not that bad,” May tells him, sure he wasn’t going to win any award soon but, Peter loved him. And Tony made an effort. Was here right now. 

“We all do the best that we can for the people we love,” Ben states, “we can only hope it’s enough.”

*

Tony is kidnapped. 

It’s a secret for the first few days, but Pepper calls May to let her know. 

He’s kidnapped and Peter really doesn’t need that right now. And there’s only so much Ben and she can do. 

Tony’s kidnapped and found and then he’s Iron Man. 

Fuck. 

May doesn’t know what she’s supposed to do with any of that.   
  


*

Ben notices, despite the smiles and hugs and smartass comments as Peter launches into a tirade, asking question after question and catching Tony up on everything he missed these last few month, Tony Stark is a changed man, fear sunken into his eyes like all the families he regularly deals with as a social worker. 

“And then Flash told me that his grandma knew Captain America but that can’t be true because they were in Canada according to Liz-,”

“Your granddad knew-,”

“-because flash wouldn’t invite Ned so we went to the movies with Ben instead and then Pepper came over for a few days-,”

“Are your trying to steal Pepper from me?”

“She likes me more because I’m much nicer and am almost always on time,” Peter states. “And she said you were missing but I knew you were okay because you had to be!”

“Of course kiddo,” Tony adds, “wasn’t about to lay down in the sun and tan.”

“And then you said you were Iron Man and I had to tell everyone that my dad was iron man but no one believes me!”

“No one thinks I’m Iron Man,” Tony’s asks skeptically, looking over at Ben.

“Noooooo,” Peter says shaking his head, like Tony’s really dumb and needs things explained slowly to him. Some things that are obvious to kids are completely lost on adults, “no one thinks you’re my dad.”

“Ah,” Tony responds, which makes sense because Mary had kept everything private and Tony agreed. Peter deserved a normal life. Not living under a shadow, with the Stark legacy on his shoulders, both good and bad. “We’ll who cares what they think kiddo.”

“Dadddd,” Peter says, rolling his eyes, smiling and bouncing around, unable to sit still, eyes trained on Tony, like he might vanish again if he takes his eyes off. 

Ben frowns, thinking about whether they were all making the right choice. Whether they were doing the right thing by Peter. 

“Yup kiddo,” Tony says with a grin, letting Peter tap the arc reactor on his chest, clearly visible through the thin shirt he wore while inside. He was now one of the most recognizable men in the world. An arrow painted on his back by his own doing. 

They all agreed that it was for the best.

“Is it always on?”

“Yeah,” Tony answers, “a little arc reactor, and soon there’ll be one powering every city. Clean renewable energy for all.”

Peter grins back. 

And Ben busies himself with making dinner for when May gets home in an hour. 

“Listen, Peter,” Tony sighs, “you know how everyone knows I’m Iron man?”

“Yeah.”

“That means my enemies know I’m Iron Man too,” He continues, waiting for Peter. 

“Okay.”

“So, kid, we’ve got to keep you a secret. To keep you safe. So that no one hurts you to get to me. To get to Iron Man. Because I want you safe.” Tony watches Peter carefully, the downturn of his lips, his fingers fidgeting at his sides, “do you understand Peter?”

“Does this mean you won’t come anymore?”

“God no. Never. I love you too much to stay away kiddo. But we’ll have to be careful. Like spies. And-,”

“Aren’t you proud of me? Is that why I’m not a Stark,” Peter asks with the earnestness that only children possess. 

“No. Peter. Never. You’re my son. And that makes you a Stark. Peter Parker Stark, always. Okay? Never forget that,” Tony says, his hand ruffling Peter’s hair, “and I’ll always be proud of you. But I want you to be safe and that means making sure no one even knows to hurt you because I couldn’t live with myself if anything happened to you. Do you understand Peter?”

Peter nods, going to hug his dad, arms tight, as he presses his head into Tony’s chest, ignoring the glowing reactor now there. 

“I love you.”

*

Peter watches the battle on New York youtube, after. After Queens is declared safe and Pepper calls and promises Aunt May it is safe. 

Tony never calls, but then he’s sure it’s because his dad’s still hard at work, making sure things are safe. 

He’d gone into the portal, it had gone up on youtube. 

Peter breaks and calls, “Dad?”

“What’s up kiddo,” Tony answers, “Everything alright?”

“Yeah, yeah, got out pretty early and queens isn’t too close to manhattan,” and Peter tries not to be hurt that his dad hadn’t called. He’d been worried. “Just wanting to know if you’re okay.”

“Of course I am,” Tony answers, “I’m iron man after all.”

“Yeah, right. I was just worried. It looked crazy online. I mean aliens.”

“Haha I know what you mean. Listen I’m going to go visit next week, deal with some crazy bad guy, hopefully get back on track for Stark Tower and then go get ice cream. You’ve got to tell me all about middle school.”

“Okay, yeah, sounds like a plan.”

*

It never pans out. The whole country watches as Iron Man saves the president on live TV. 

*

Peter mixes the frozen yogurt, letting it melt into much as he sits across from his dad shamelessly clad in an Iron Man hat. 

It's summer and humid and hot. Peter can feel the sun on his skin from their spot under the shade in some park that Happy decided was empty and secure. Away from prying eyes. 

“Come on talk to me kid,” Tony says, glancing over at him. “Feels like I haven’t seen you all year.”

“That’s because you haven’t,” Peter replies cuttingly. Stark Tower’s location in New York was supposed to mean they’d get to spend more time together, but Peter only ever sees his dad through screens these day so

Tony’s smile falters, his yogurt forgotten in his hand. “Sorry, but I’m here now right?”

Peter rolls his eyes. “Aunt May always tells me sorry doesn’t fix things. That takes actual effort. And don’t say you’re Iron Man! I know that.”

“Peter,” Tony sighs, head in his hands. “You’re right. You’re absolutely right. I should’ve called after New York. You shouldn’t have had to hear about it on the news. There’s no excuse for that.” 

“So how about this,” Tony continues, taking his orange tinted glasses off, looking ver un iron man,  very un tony stark billionaire playboy philanthropist in jeans and a t shirt, “I’ll talk. I’ll tell you everything that’s being going on since New York. And after, if you’re still annoyed at me we can try again tomorrow. Does that sound fair to you?”

“Okay,” Peter mutters into a bite of his now swirled froyo. 

“So last time we chatted was before New York. Up in Stark tower. So much of it is wrecked now but we’re working on bringing it back up to speed. Got a room in there for Bruce Banner and the rest of the Avengers, but it’s just Bruce really. 

New York happened. 

It was a top secret thing, the avengers. Still should've told you, never did learn to follow rules, but I wasn’t going to join really. First they wanted me and then I said no. Then they didn’t want me and I was offended,” he says, glancing over at Peter who can’t help the smirk on his lips. “Then there was no choice what with Loki hell bent of world destruction and domination. So S.H.I.E.L.D gathered up the world’s superheros and sent us out.” 

“Me, Banner aka the hulk who is every bit as smart and angry as I imagined him to be. Captain America who can be a real stick in the mud but maybe he just doesn’t like me.”

“You can come off as an ass,” Peter retorts. 

“Hey! I’m letting that slide for now but I’ll wash out your mouth with soap bud.”

“Two super spies, Natasha who was briefly the new Pepper but to Pepper since I made her CEO. Barton who I don’t even know. And Thor with his hammer. Love that guy.”

“Can I meet them,” Peter says looking up hopefully, remembering the time they’d learned about Captain America in history. It had been mostly him and Ned playing in their gameboys under their desks, but he’d perked up at Captain America and Howard Stark. His grandfather. The man who’d built the company. 

“You can meet Banner. I’ll have to ask him first. Kind of a shy guy.” 

“Okay.”

“Then I had to deal with the mandarin and  Pepper yelled at me a lot. Mostly about being so busy being iron man that I forgot about the people closest to me and she was right. So I’m dialing back the Iron Man thing. So I got heart surgery. No more arc reactor necessary.”

“Really,” Peter asks, glancing at his dad’s chest, remembering the glowing light that was often visible. 

“Yup,” Tony replies. “So what’s the verdict kid?”

“I want to meet Bruce Banner.”

“Oh I see how it is. New super heros, gonna just forget about your old man,” Tony teases, running his hand through Peter’s long hair, falling into his eyes, like all those california skater kids from the benefits and various projects Pepper has the Stark Foundation run. 

“Dad,” Peter says, pulling away, hands going up to fix his hair.

*

It’s the day before his birthday and Happy picks him up. “Do you have everything,” Aunt May shouts, running down the stair to where Happy stands by a boring honda, more low key than any of the many nice cars that his dad owns.

“Yes,” he says, exasperated. “I’ve got everything so I’m going.”

“You’re toothbrush!”

“That too.”

“Okay,” Aunt May nods, pulling him into a hug, “just be safe! Do whatever Pepper says!”

“Shouldn’t I do whatever dad says?” Peter says amused, hugging his aunt right back. 

“No! Absolutely not. Your dad is a menace.”

Peter laughs, “see you tomorrow Aunt May! Say goodnight to Ben for me.”

And then he’s greeting Happy, “So I don’t think I ever asked you, what’s it like to be Iron Man’s security? Got to be really ironic right! Iron Man needing security, cuz he’s Iron Man.” Like most adults in Peter’s life, he sighs with exasperation.

* “Hi Mr. Banner hulk sir it’s really nice to meet you,” Peter babbles, shaking the man’s hand trice before remembering to let go, “my dad’s told me a lot about you and your work. I thought your improvements into cancer research were amazing, the specific targeting using modified cells and lower doses of radiation was amazing. My mom worked on genetic engineering too, more focused on diseases but still.”

“Nice to meet you too,” Bruce Banner says, looking over at Tony who shrugs in response, “you’re only the second person to meet me and love my work outside of the hulk.”

Peter beems. 

“Bruce,” Tony says, stepping forward, wrapping an arm around Peter, “this is my son. See I wasn’t kidding.” 

“Sorry tony,” Bruce snorts, “i just don’t see you as a dad.”

“That’s because I’m a cool dad,” he responds, wiggling his eyebrows. 

Peter snorts, “the first time he brought me up here he did the lion king thing!”

“He did not,” Bruce says, quickly moving onto the ganging up on tony train.

He nods, “right as we were looking out from the helicopter pad.”

“Wow,” Bruce says, laughing, “I’m going to tell Steve and Nat next time they come up to New York.”

“You will do no such thing!”

“So what are you guys working on?”

*

“Are you city slickers ready to go brave the outdoors,” Ben asks, finishing loading up the car. They’d been planning this trip for ages and no amount of shield turning out to be hydra was putting a stop to that. 

“You can’t even light a fire with a stick Ben,” May teases, wearing shorts and a t shirt, ready for the long trip up to Canada. “And you call yourself an outdoorsman?”

Peter is glued to his phone. “Dad says the tesseract’s missing.” He’d been texting with his father since the news had broken. But Stark was too tied up in clean up efforts and bureaucracy to do much else. 

“I’m sure the states will still be standing when we get back,” Ben reassures him. Peter looks so much like May, like Mary, that he sometimes looks at him and wonders if that’s what their own kids would’ve looked like. Most of the time, Peter feels like his son. 

Taking him back to school shopping. Making sure he’s finished his homework. Going to his decathlon events and racking his brains to remember the little amount of math he’d learned. School hadn’t been his strong suit, not like it was Peter’s. 

But with Mary as a mother and Tony for a father, there wasn’t any way Peter wouldn’t be smart. 

“I know,” he says flushing red, “I’m just worried.”

“He’ll be fine Pete,” May adds, “he fought aliens remembers.” Then turns her head towards Ben, “and States? Are you Canadian now?” Never one to let a thing slip by. 

“I’ve made playlists,” Peter suddenly announces surging forward. 

“We don’t have an aux cord kiddo,” Ben reminds him. Their ancient car had seen better days, but it ran just fine for what they needed. 

“You do now,” Peter tells them, “I messed around a bit and was able to install one. Surprise!”

“Peter,” May yells without any real sting, “I knew it and you lied to my face!” 

“It wouldn’t have been a surprise.”

“Kid’s right May.”

“Are there going to be bears? And Moose? I want to see a moose. I read that a moose can get hit by a truck and the truck’s the one that get’s wrecked!”

“It’s a national park Peter, I’m sure we’ll get to see lots of wildlife.”

“Last year Flash went on a safari in Kenya and saw all these animals and he wouldn’t shut up about it for the rest of the year. Like we’ve all seen a tiger at the zoo but he saw one on safari! And it was so dumb because not everyone’s family can go on a safari.” 

“That’s very true,” Ben responds with a smile. Despite how much wealth and privilege Peter had been born into, could have if Mary had made Peter go by Stark, he has a good head on his shoulders. And he knows Tony gives Peter way too much money outside of the monthly checks he sends them. 

It’s a lot. They could choose not to work, but they’ve never been those kinds of people and he loves his job, knows May loves her jobs right back. And it’s Peter’s money really. 

So they’ve deposited most of it into a college fun, and used a small bit to go on family outings to broadway and paintball and donating some to the same food kitchen they volunteer at during christmas. 

“But Flash has always been such an ass.”

“Language,” May says slapping the dashboard.

“I’m fourteen,” Peter whines. 

“And your point is?”

“Okay okay but still he is!”

*

His dad greets him with, as he arrives, pulling out to the curb in an orange lamborghini throwing away years of secrecy.  “Pepper broke up with me,” while eating straight out of a tub of ice cream in his lap and wearing sweatpants. 

“Do you want to cancel?” Because Peter doesn’t know what to do with a sad and depressed dad. Tony’s always been fine, cracking a smile, happy to see him. 

“Oh god no,” Tony responds, shaking his head, “just wanted to tell you. She’s back on the west coast and all my calls go to her secretary.”

“Ouch,” Peter offers. 

“Yeah,” Tony nods, “want to go for your first driving lesson?”

“In this,” he says, eyes growing wide as saucers! 

“Yeah,” Tony responds with a smirk, “just don’t crash. I mean don’t crash in any car! Like any car! You’ll give me a heart attack and then what will the avengers do?”

“Move aside old man,” Peter replies. 

“Old! I just saved an entire country! The entire world!”

“You have white in your beard now dad!”

“That’s it,” Tony jokes, “I’m leaving everything to my favorite son, Vision slash Jarvis. Not sure where one ends and one begins but you get the picture.”

“So which pedal do I press?”   
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Peter has a total of three moms (mary, may and pepper) and three dads (tony, ben, and richard). also ben took on may's last name.


	2. II. heroes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Saving people, hunting things, the family business."  
> -Supernatural

 

All right, people, let’s tell this one last time. Peter Parker Stark gets bitten by a radioactive spider while on a field trip to Oscorp because science is his school’s speciality, and for the last few weeks he has been the one and only spiderman in his passible costume, helped by the webshooters he’s built using tech he’d snuck out of Stark Tower, thanks for the key dad. He helps keep the neighborhood safe, gets a few videos of him uploaded to youtube, fails to save ben. Fails to save Ben. Fails to save Ben. 

And manages to keep it a secret from his dad, an avenger.

*

Peter’s been following the mess with the sokovia awards and the avengers closely. So he’s really surprised when his dad shows up at their apartment, with sunglasses and a grin, “I was in the neighborhood, thought I’d stop by,” he tells aunt May. 

Aunt May rolls her eyes, letting him in, “Nice to see you too Tony.”

“How are you holding up,” he asks more seriously, having attended Ben’s funeral. Consoling Aunt May along with Peter, offering security detail and safe houses and a thousand other things May had turned down with tears in her eyes. 

“I feel like shit most nights,” May utters, “but I think I’m getting there. It’s just-It’s hard but I’m okay, really. Keeping busy.”

“I know a good therapist,” Tony offers, “helped me with my PTSD.”

“I don’t think I’m that bad, really Tony, I just miss him. Thanks for the offer though.” Her arms crossed against her chest, smiling fragilely. 

“Okay,” Tony states, turning the full force of his attention, “you, me, let’s talk.”

“Me,” Peter yelps, “What did I do!”

“Nothing, all good news,” Tony says staring him down, “your room now.”

Peter has no choice but to follow, shrugging at May’s questioning glances. He has no idea what this could be about. He’s been amazing at keeping spiderman a secret. If aunt May doesn’t know, there’s no was his dad could know. 

He just has to play it cool. 

“Oh cool set up,” Tony notes, glancing at the mass of computer mods he’s built over the years, a minecraft for his suit tech. “Thrift store? Salvation army? Don’t support them though, homophobes.”

“I like to build mods, mostly scavenged” he offers, which his dad knows, they’ve both built a few things together over the years, but he’s never seen these, “and Ned does to, for our video games. He’s been on a minecraft kick recently.”

Tony snorts, amusement clear in his wide smile, “my old man’s probably rolling over in his grave, his only grandson, a dumpster diver.”

“Well, yeah. Recycling’s good for the planet.” Still nervous, crossing his hands over his chest. He has no clue what his dad could be on about. He’s just gotta play it cool. “Uh, why are you-,”

“Um-Ah,” Tony says cutting him off, pulling up his phone, wrinkles deep set in his forehead and cheeks starting to sag, eyebags dark and heavy. For once, he looks serious and uncannily like those fathers from sitcoms, about to start a talk with their kids, worry etched into his brow. “Me first, quick question of the rhetorical variety,” projecting out a video of him-of spiderman doing heroics. 

“That’s you right.”

Peter’s heart leaps into his throat and he knows he’s dead, the same panic he’s feeling written into the widening of his eyes and half formed protests and denials on his lips, “um no,” he replies shaking his head, “What do you-”

“Yeah,” Tony counters, “look at you go. I’d know you anywhere kid. aNd like any father I’ve got to say, nice catch. That’s got to be what, 3,000 pounds? 40 miles an hour? It’s not easy. Got mad skills.”

Peter reactively moves forward, no plan but more denials, “No, no that’s-that’s all um- that’s all on youtube though right. That’s where you found it,” he explains away, “because that’s all fake, all done on a computer.”

“Um hum, sure.”

“Dad,” Peter protests, trying to come up with a plausible explanation. Tony would tell aunt may and then he’d be grounded for life and he doesn’t doubt they’d both sent him to some remote place to make sure he stays out of trouble. “It’s just fake-”

“You mean like those UFOs over phoenix,” Tony says as his suit comes crashing down and out if the ceiling, landing with a dull thud on the floor. 

Peter swallows. Moving quickly to shield it from eyesight like that’ll solve everything, leaning against the wall, at a loss for words. “Uhhh-”

“So you take after your old man,” Tony sighs. “And here I was thinking you were your mom’s son. Same hair, most of the face too,” he states softly, “smart but that could’ve been either one of us. You’re much nicer than me, gotta be your mom. You know she was one of the kindest people I ever meet. Still is. A much better woman than some of the people who make history.”

“I-,” Peter says, staring down at his shoes, thinking back on all his memories of his mom. She’s long gone and he can’t remember her laugh anymore. Just the love they shared. 

“So how exactly are you this spider-ling? Crime fighting spider? Spider boy?”

“Spiderman,” he corrects, meeting his dads eyes.

“Because that onesie isn’t doing the heavy lifting. I know that much,” Tony remarks, taking a seat on his bed. “How are you doing it? I need a suit of titanium alloy just to keep up with Natasha.”

“Uh,” Peter says, running a hand through his hair, “I kind of got bit by some radioactive spider from a lab we visited with my school, I got lost I didn’t mean to, and then I had superpowers. Like super strength and I could see better, like way better than a normal person and the hearing and yeah, it’s like my senses have been dialed to eleven” he breaks off, “and I figured why not.”

“Let me get this straight,” Tony says, “you got bitten by a radioactive spider and your first instinct wasn’t to tell me because hello radiation but to go be a hero! Woah you really are my son. Way too smart to do all the dumb things we do.”

“I also got a hundred on my algebra test,” Peter offers, hoping to change the subject. 

“Who else knows? Anybody?”

“Nobody.” 

“Not even May?”

“Nono. No! If she would freak out. And when she freaks out, I freak out.”

“You know what I think is really cool,” Tony says throwing one at him, “this webbing. I know you sure as hell didn’t dumpster dive for this.”

“I could’ve,” Peter counters. He’d certainly thought about it, made a prototype from scraps before deciding to use his unlimited access to Stark tower. “You did give me a key to Stark Tower.”

“We’ll have to submit a patent. Have it framed. Climbing walls?”

“The spider bite.”

“Woah,” his dad says, bringing the spiderman goggles up to his face, “can you even see in these,” before Peter snatches them away. 

“Yes, yes I can,” Peter argues, “Dialled up senses.There’s way too much input. They help me focus.”

“You’re in dire need of an upgrade. Systemic. Top to bottom, one hundred percent. That’s why I’m here. Can’t be letting my son go out in that onesie.”

“Dad, it’s not a onesie,” he complains, taking a seat in front of his dad. 

“Why are you doing this?” Tony’s gaze heavy as he takes Peter in. Their the same height now, or close enough. They have the same nose courtesy of Maria Stark. The same eyes. Come to think of it, Peter does have a good resemblance to his grandmother, not just his mother. “I gotta know what’s your M.O.? What gets you out of that twin bed in the morning?” 

Tony thinks of his mother’s endless patience and resolve that had gotten his into Nasa in an age when women weren’t considered for physics. Remembers her in a lab coat the same way her remembers his father in a suit.He wishes she could’ve met Peter. Wishes he’d been a better son.

He’s curious and calm and Peter no longer feels like he’s about to be shipped off to boarding school. So Peter tells him, “because I’ve been me my whole life. And I’ve had these powers for six months. I read books. I build computers. And yeah I would love to play football, but I couldn’t then, so I shouldn’t now.”

“Because you’re different”

“Exactly. But I can’t tell anybody that so I’m not.” He looks down at his hands, twiddling his thumbs, trying to put everything he feels into coherent thoughts. “When you can do the things that I can, but you don’t” he thinks of uncle Ben, of all the different way things could have gone, “and then the bad things happen, they happen because of you.” 

Tony puts a hand on his shoulder, “Peter,” he says heavily, “nothing-and I mean nothing- is you’re fault. It’s good to help. But it’s not your fault that there’s people who hurt others. You’re just a good kid.”

“I know dad, but-,”

“You can’t help feeling that way,” Tony finishes, thinking of all the people he’d helped kill with his weapons, all the money he’d made from wars, all the people he’d failed. Yensin. All the citizens of Sokovia. And now Steve. 

“Yeah.”

“Gotta passport,” Tony asks, throwing a curveball.

“No, no. Expired a while ago.”

“Ever been to germany?”

“Oh you’ll love it,” Tony tells him, grinning. 

“I can’t go to Germany.” Peter asks, confused. The furthest he’s been with his dad is Seattle where they’d had great cheeseburgers and popped into record shops with his dad insisting on blasting black sabbath.

“Why not?” 

“I-I’ve got homework.”

“Oh god,” Tony teases, “I’m going to pretend you didn’t just say that.”

“I’m being serious! I can’t just drop out of school!” Aunt may would kill him and then he could kiss his chances of getting into Columbia or even NYU out. 

“Better go tell Aunt May I’m taking you on a little father son bonding trip.”

Peter shoots out web, sticking Tony to the door, “do not tell Aunt May!” 

Tony looks up at Peter in disbelief. 

“Don’t tell Aunt May.”

“Alright Spiderman,” Tony answers, “here’s what’s going to happen. I’m going to take you to germany. You’re going to play back up to the avengers and then when we get back, I’m going to run a hundred tests to make sure you’re not dying and then you, me and May are going to have a nice long talk about keeping life changing secrets from us.”

“Okay.” Peter acquiesces, knowing when to cut his loses. 

*

They met up with everyone at a hotel in Berlin. He knows Rhodey who immediately looks at Tony in confusion as Peter trails behind him. 

Natasha Romanoff he only knows from the news, but she’s unmistakable in her red hair, and ramrod straight back, sitting at a table next to a black man who cares an aura of regality who can only be the Wakandan now King his dad briefed him on. 

There’s a few women nearby who must be his guards. Peter looks away, feeling like they could cut him in half before he’d have time to react. 

Then there’s Vision, who looks the most out of place in the hotel’s massive suit, all red and blue, and holding himself to stiffly, only mimicking humanity. The same inherent awkwardness of infants learning to walk. 

“Tony,” Rhodey finally ventures to ask, “is this really a good idea,” eyes darting to Peter who honestly feels offended. Rhodey knows him, sends him a christmas present and they all had fun at his sister’s big fourth of july barbecue last year. 

“Who’s the kid Stark,” Natasha says cutting straight to the point, weighing his world with her piercing eyes. It was an unnerving being studied by a world class spy and assassin. 

“Didn’t you all get the memo,” Tony jokes, “it’s bring your kid to work day.”

“Hi,” Peter waves awkwardly. 

“This is your son,” the Wakandan King says, fixing Tony with a guarded stare. 

“He’s also a superhero. And he’ll just be playing defense.” 

“I must admit that I fail to see the resemblance,” Vision utters, offering Peter a hand to shake, a parroted formality. 

“I’m not sure about that,” Natasha states, tilting her head up in thought, “they have the same nose, and eyes.”

“Uh thanks,” Peter utters, unsure of what next, feeling much like a kid that’s transferred in half way through senior year of high school.

“How come you never told us you had a son Stark?”

“Privacy from nosey spies like you Nat. Now let’s make a game plan. I’m hoping Steve sees reason but he’s a stubborn ass, that’s half the reason I love him so much.”

*

Peter’s all puffed up from helping them all take down the man who’s just grown giant, which is why he doesn’t pay attention and gets smacked by a giant hand into a pile of boxes, hitting the ground with a sudden burst of searing pain. 

He shoves the mask up, trying to take in big gulps of air even as the stinging pain flares up along his ribs with every breath he takes in. 

Fuck. 

Shit. 

“Are you all right,” he hears as his dad lands, worry etched into his features as he looks him over, Iron Mask off, “Peter! Talk to me son!”

His body reacts first, hands raised, still wired for battle. 

“Hey, hey, Peter, it’s okay. It’s me. It’s your dad,” his drawn lips melting into a smile when he sees Peter bruised but ultimately fine. 

“Hey dad,” he responds, laying back down on the ground, “that was scary.”

“Yeah, for you and me both,” his dad sighs, “You’re done. Alright? You did a good job. Now stay down.”

“No,” Peter says, already trying to get up despite his dad’s hands pushing him back down, “It’s good. I’m good. I gotta get him back.” He’s gotta make his dad proud. Gotta make the grounding from hell he’s going to get back home worth it. 

“You’re going home or I’ll call Aunt May right now,” Tony threatens, “forget the avengers. I’ll drag you home myself. You’re done.”

“Okay.”

*

“Oh my god,” May shouts, running to Peter’s side as soon as they touch down at the Avengers compound, tipping his head up, “what happened? Who did this!”

Pepper’s not far behind, eyes narrowed as she looks at them both, “Tony!”

“Who snitched?”

“Rhodey. Nat,” Pepper states.

Tony looks over at Peter, “well kid, time to break the news.” He’s wearing his normals clothes, but he wishes he was still in his spiderman suit as May fixes him with a look. 

“What’s he talking about Peter?”

“Uh-”

“Peter?”

“I’m-I-I’m spiderman.”

“What the fuck,” Aunt May yells, fixing tony with a withering glare.

“He didn’t-I-I got super powers from a spider a couple months ago and-and I wanted to help people Aunt May. It was the right thing to do.”

“You’re just a kid,” May yells, hands in the air, looking around at all of them, “you should be worried about school not-not joining the avengers.”

“Yes. Exactly,” Pepper states, leveling a cold look at tony, “What were you thinking taking Peter with you to face Steve!” 

“We needed back up,” Tony tries to start defending himself, looking like a chastized little boy getting scolded after taking the last cookie. 

“He’s your son Tony,” Pepper says, voice loud and pissed, “you’re supposed to protect him, not take him to where the danger is.”

“I swear to god Tony,” May adds, “you’ll be lucky if I ever leave you alone with him again.”

“He was fine. He is fine.”

“I wanted to go,” Peter adds. 

“I gave him a suit to make sure he’d be doubly safe. And i had every intention of bringing him back and having this little chat, Why do you think I called May here! It’s not like the other would actually hurt him.”

“And yet look at Rhodey,” Pepper counters, biting her lip. He was stable, but he’d never walk on his own again. He’d gotten luck he still had any movement at all. 

“Don’t you dare bring Rhodey into this Pepper!”

“She’s right,” May spits, “Rhodey is a grown man. It was his choice and what happened was terrible but he accepted that when he-it could’ve easily happened to Peter.”

“I’m fine,” Peter shouts. “I’m fine. I have been fine these last few months haven’t I?”

“That doesn’t mean that it’s okay Peter! I can’t lose you,” May shouts, eyes shining with unspilled tears. 

“May,” he sputters, biting his lip, chest growing heavy as he realizes just what he put her through. His aunt who’d taken him in, made him lunch despite her poor cooking skills and given up her job with the greenpeace for him. She was his family and he never should have done this to her. To any of them. 

He thinks about the fear and regret clear in Tony’s eyes when he’d run to check on him back in Germany, half scared to death. 

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay Peter,” May responds, hugging him tightly. “But you’re still grounded and this spider man thing is over.”

“Y-you can’t do that,” Peter says pulling away. “I’m spiderman. I can’t just not be spiderman.”

“You’re still a kid,” Pepper notes sadly, “it’s not your call.”

“Don’t hate me,” Tony adds, “but I think we should support his heroics. I mean, he’s going to sneak out and do it. And this way I can monitor everything, give him missions suitable for his skill level and keep him safe.”

“Tony. . .”

“You all know it’s true. And he has powers. He needs training. Oversight.”

“Dad’s right,” Peter tells them, “you can’t stop me. Iv’e been sneaking out.”

“And he’ll follow my orders to a T,” Tony adds. “I know I made a bad call but he’s my son and I would never do anything that would hurt him. Hell that’s why no one even knows he’s my son. And even when I was a drunken mess I made time for him, because I love him. And I know I can do this for him, do this right.”

“Aunt May,” Peter says, risking a glance at her. 

“If anything happens to him you’re a dead man Tony.”

*

Ned corners him the first day back at school, “where were you? You were gone all week and Aunt May said you were fine?” 

Peter takes one look at his best friend’s face and falters, “ah-germany.”

“What! Why,” Ned asks, falling into step besides him. 

Stark Internship is on the tip of his tongue but he doesn’t want to lie. Not to him. Not Ned who built computer mods with him, giving him a boost into the dumpsters and spent the summer building the millennium falcon with him after Peter had spent some of his birthday money to buy the giant thing.

“Uh, I went to Germany with my dad.” Which is true. They’d even had pretzels between the U.N. and the fight. Tony had let him order a beer which had  Peter doing a spit take. 

“I thought your parents were dead,” Ned intones, confused. 

Peter swallows the familiarly lump in his throat and goes on, “well my mom and step dad but my-my dad’s still around.”

“How come I’ve never met him?” 

Peter thinks of his dad, of Tony in sunglasses and sneaking around New York with him. The times he’d gotten to see and touch and tinker with the Iron Man suit. Having pizza with Bruce Banner and watching Star Wars with Rhodey and Pepper. 

“Well he’s,” he sighs, “Ned you’ve got to promise to keep this a secret. I mean it Ned. No one can know.”

“Wait, is he like some spy!”

“What! No. No,” he shakes his head, “it’s just complicated. But my dad’s Tony Stark.” Uttering those words, outside of family, outside of super secret avengers stuff, feels like a breath of fresh air. Like he’s not some dirty secret being hidden. 

He knows that’s not what it’s like. He gets why they all decided to make him a secret. But that doesn’t change how he feels sometimes. 

“Wait,” Ned says, looking pensive, “you mean you were telling the truth when you said back in first grade that your dad’s-,” 

“Shhhhh.” He glances around but no one seems to be paying them any attention.

“Sorry.”

“How do you even remember that,” Peter asks, having half forgotten himself. He’d assumed everyone else had, having written him off as some poor kid wishing he knew his dad. For the longest time, Peter’s mom would show up all alone. 

And he didn’t look anything like Richard. 

“Uh you sort of remember things like that Peter. Plus you’re my best friend.”

“That’s why I’m trusting you to keep this a secret.”

“Why Germany though? Wasn’t there like an Avengers thing happen there. With the U.N.?”

Peter sighs. The truth was always so much harder to tell than it should be. “Ugh yeah so things got complicated and he wasn’t sure when he’d be free so he just flew me to Germany, cause he missed me.” 

“Aww that’s so sweet. So if you’re loaded then why do you rent an apartment?” Which was the same thing Peter had wondered when he’d learned about the child support Tony sent his aunt. 

Just looking at the amount made his head spin. 

“I live with my aunt and she likes where we live. I mean she lived there for years with Uncle B-Ben.” It was still hard to think about. Still raw. “ Also I’m pretty sure they don’t want me to end up like Flash.”

“Oh yeah,” Ned commiserated, nodding, “he’s such a dick.” 

*

Just because his dad’s got no missions for him doesn’t mean he can’t patrol after school when he’s not meeting up with his dad and Pepper, or catching up with Rhodey up in Stark Tower before they make the move upstate to ensure should another even like the battle of New York happen, there won’t be any collateral like there was in 2012.

*

He tries his dad before Happy, but the call goes dead midway through ringing which his dad told him means he’s at a black ops facility doing government stuff. So Happy it is. 

*

Peter has to find a better solution than to spend his birthday money on new backpacks and school books. Maybe buy one of those tracker chip thinks. Maybe that could be a new suit upgrade. 

*

He gets a call from Tony as soon as school’s out, “so I’ve finally finished having the best and brightest look over you’re tests and by best I mean me,” his dad rambles, “Like I would let anyone else look over your medical record because they were wild. No doctors Peter. I mean it. Lots of abnormalities, but nothing malignant. You should be fine using any over the counter meds but anything more serious, call me! Got it bud?”

“Nice to hear from you too,” Peter rambles back, “did Happy tell you about the alien tech?”

“Yup, passed the info on to the right people what with the Sokovia accords tying my hands right up,” Tony answers, “but I’ve got to tell you it’ done wonders for my relationship with Pepper. Thinking about popping the big question. What do you think?”

“Yeah, I think you should go for it. Are you sure you don’t want me to investigate?”

“Uh no. Leave that to the agents I have on it. You, focus on school, when something comes up I’ll tell you. But drop this one okay.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Peters answers dejectedly, “of course.”

“I’m going to be away on a business trip. Might have a big deal with in India over some arc reactor tech so we won’t be seeing each other till I get back. Stay safe.”

“Love you dad.”

“Love you too.”

*

It stays on his mind. 

*

“How’d you find me? Did you put a tracker in my suit?”

“Um, I put everything in your suit,” his dad responds after dragging him out of the river, saving him from drowning, “Including this heater.”

Instantly his body warms up, suit starting to dry and Peter stops shivering. “Oooh that’s better. Thanks dad.” 

“What were you thinking?”

“The guy with the wings is the source of the weapons. I couldn't just sit by. No one was going to stop them. I gotta take him down.”

“Take him down now, huh? Steady, Crockett. There are people who handle this sort of thing. I told you I had people on this Peter,” His dad says from the Iron Man suit still hovering above him, “We had a deal. And I specifically told you to let this go.”

“Wait, I thought you were on a business trip in India?”

“Oh I’m not here,” the Iron Man suit says, mask pulling up for dramatic effect, “Thank god this place has wifi Peter, or you’d be toast. Thank Ganesh while you’re at it” He sighs. “Do you realize how close you came to being seriously hurt? Look forget this vulture guy, please.”

“Why?”

“Because I said so!”

Peter flinches, unused to this Tony. the tony who put his foot down. He was used to being the good kid who got in trouble for forgetting to wash the dishes not the kid who got yelled at for sneaking off to fight criminals. 

“This is supposed to be training Peter. Staying close to the ground. Building up your game. Helping the little people. Like that lady that bought you a churro.”

“Happy told you?”

“Of course he did, we go over this while Pepper rolls her eyes and complains that there’s two of us now for her to worry about. 

Just be a friendly neighborhood spiderman.”

“But I’m ready for more dad,” Peter protests. He’d stopped them from robbing a bank. He’d nearly had them tonight. He could do this just like he had back in Germany. 

“No.”

“That’s not what you thought when I took on Captain America!”

“Trust me kid,” Tony responds bluntly, “if cap wanted to lay you out he would’ve. We were all pulling our punches and Rhodey still got hurt. And that was the good guys Peter. These people will kill you without hesitation. Listen to me buddy, if you happen across these weapons again while I’m away call Happy.”

An engine revs. “Wait are you driving?”

“You know,” Tony notes, “it’s never too early to think about college. I’ve got some pull at MIT. Could donate a new building, any college you want. Think of a nice safe classroom where you won’t give me my first heart attack. 

End call.” 

Peter yells in frustration, alone, out of web shooters. He’s supposed to be in training, but this feels like his dad’s just giving him busy work. Something to keep him out of trouble and out of the way. 

*

He finds more alien tech and doesn’t call Happy. 

*

For once, it’s Happy who calls him first,, “why are you leaving new york?”

“Academic Decathlon, we’re going to nationals this year. It’s in D.C. Why? I thought P-I thought she had everything all synched up,” Peter says, remembering half way through just how famous Pepper is and name dropping would be a bad idea in a bus full of people. “Look, Happy, you tracking me without my permission is a complete violation of my privacy.”

“You’re dad signed off on it and so did May.”

“What! Look, nevermind it’s no big deal, just a school trip. You don’t have to worry about me.”

“Hey. I decide if it’s no big deal. . .sounds like it’s no big deal but remember I’m watching you while your dad’s away and I’m not letting him down.”

*

Peter gets back and pulled right into May’s arms, “oh my god when I saw the footage!”

“I’m sorry,” Peter’s already saying. 

“No, no, you did the right thing. It scared me half to dead, but you did the right thing Peter, I just worry.”

“I know.”

*

He’s got them. It’s almost too perfect when his dad calls. 

“Mr. Parker Stark. Got a second?” Image displaying on screen. 

“Um I’m actually in school.”

“Nice work in D.C. May and Pepper agree. I know I’ve been hard on you-was hard on you last time we spoke but good job Peter. 

Uh. My dad never really gave me a lot of support and I’m just trying to break the cycle of shame. End the emotionally crippled line of Stark men.”

“I’m kind of in the middle of something,” Peter says, trying to focus in on the deal going down. Buyers and sellers all in one place. He wasn’t letting anyone get away this time.

“Don’t cut me off when I’m complimenting you. Anyway, great things are about to-hey, what is that?”

“I’m at band practice,” Peter lies. 

“Ummm, that’s odd. May told me you quit band six weeks ago. What’s up?”

“I gotta go! End Call.” He hangs up and tries not to think about the hell dad’ll give him later. First he needs to catch these guys and live to regret hanging up on on Tony.

*

“Hey Spiderman,” dad says, appearing via his Iron Man suit yet again, “band practice was it?”

“Uh, I can explain,” Peter stutters out. 

*

“Previously on Peter screws the pooch,” his dad’s suit voices, joining him on top of a building, “I tell you to stay away from this. Instead you hack into a multimillion dollar suit so you could sneak around behind my back, doing the one thing I told you not to do.”

“Is everyone okay,” Peter utters, watching as the ferry’s hauled to shore. 

“No thanks to you.”

“No thanks to me? Those weapons were out there and I tried to tell you about it, but you didn’t listen. None of this would’ve happened if you had just listened to me,” Peter says yelling at his dad’s suit. It doesn’t matter that he’s not really there, it feels good to get everything off his chest. “If you even cared you’d actually be here.”

The iron man suit opens up to reveal his dad, taking a step out and joining him up on the roof, radiating disappointment and anger, “I did listen. I told you I had people on it. Who do you think called the FBI, huh?”

“I spoke up for you. Believed in you. Promised your aunt and Pepper we could make this work. Everyone else said I was crazy to recruit a fifteen year old kid, my son no less-”

“I’m not a kid-”

“No,” his dad shouts, face hard for once, “this is where you zip it, all right! The adult is talking. What if somebody died tonight? Different story, right? Cause that’s on you. And jesus christ Peter if you had died, that’s on me.” He sighs heavily, “I don’t need that on my conscience.” 

“I’m sorry dad,” Peter utters, voice cracking, eyes burning with unshed tears, chest heavy. He really fucked up, he knows that. But he just couldn’t sit by and do nothing. Peter knows he was wrong, the truth weighing him down like lead, cold and hard in his throat.  “I’m sorry.”

“Sorry doesn’t cut it. You told me that once.”

“I understand. I just wanted to be like you.” He admits quietly, like the very words might send him over the edge as he stands on the verge of breaking down, glancing up at Tony, haunching his shoulders in, wishing he was back home where he could curl up in his bed and stay there for the next fifty years. 

“And I wanted you to be better. Want you to be a better man than I was. Than I am,” Tony says pulling Peter into a hug, tucking him into his chest. Peter, closes his eyes and lets out a sigh, finding comfort in his dad’s embrace.  “I’ve made a lot of mistakes over the years Peter. Mistakes I can’t take back, have to live with for the rest of my life and I don’t want you to go through as much shit as I did. I was really hoping this wasn’t one of those mistakes.” 

“Dad. . .”

“No Peter,” he says, pulling back. “It’s not working out. I’m gonna need the suit back.”

Something in Peter breaks, and he’s almost too afraid to ask because-because he is spiderman as much as he is Peter, just like his dad and the suit are one, Peter can’t-he can’t just stop being spiderman. “For how long?”

“Forever,” his dad states, unmoved. 

“No, no. Please, please, you don’t understand-”

“Let’s have it,” his dad insists, unmoved.

“I’m nothing without this suit.”

“If you’re nothing without this suit, then you shouldn’t have it, okay. Great, now you’ve made me sound like my dad. Happy?”

Peter sighs, relenting, before responding in a small voice, “I don’t have any other clothes.”

“Okay,” Tony shrugs, “we’ll sort that out. And yes this means you’re grounded.”

*

May answers the door eyes red rimmed, “Peter you can’t do that! I was worried sick. I’ve been calling you all day and then this ferry thing happens and I had to call Pepper but she didn’t know anything because she’s been at board meetings all day and then Tony called and Peter you can’t do this! I thought-,” she puts her head in her hands, “I was about to call a police station when Tony called and told me you were okay.”

“May I’m all right,” Peter reassures her.

“Don’t Peter,” she says, voice hard as she looks at him, “cut the bullshit. You think Tony didn’t tell me everything. You left detention and went to fight some crazy guys with alien technology even after your dad told you not to! You said you’d listen to him! That’s the only reason I agreed to this after you came home with a black eye after Germany!”

“I’m sorry May,” he finds himself saying. There’s nothing else he can say. “I’m sorry I had you worried.”

“And then don’t think I don’t know about you sneaking out of the hotel in D.C in the first place! They call me you know, you’re school. I know I said you did the right thing, saving those people in D.C. but you still shouldn’t have snuck out Peter! I just-what is going on? Just you and me, lay it all out.”

“I-I wanted to make my dad proud. I wanted-I wanted to prove I could do it.”

“Peter,” May sighs, wrapping her arms around him, “Peter we’re all so proud of you. And your mother would be to. You don’t-you don’t have to be spiderman to make Tony proud. You don’t have to save the world for me to love you so much Peter.”

“I know that, but I just. . .”

“It’s okay baby,” May. “I was a mess at your age too. Sneaking out to parties. A little different than you and I doubt there’s any parents who’ve had to deal with this-but I just want what’s best for you.”

“I know Aunt May.”

“You’re still grounded though,” she says smiling, wiping the tears from behind her glasses with the back of her hand. 

“I figured.”

*

Tony hands him a very expensive looking corsage, “got the girl and Ace’d the spanish test,” nodding a hi at May, “at this rate you’ll be ungrounded by college graduation.”

“Thanks for picking this up dad.”

“Don’t suppose we get to take embarrassing pictures?”

“Oh yes Peter,” May says, “we need some of those for sure.”

“Can you help me with this tie this tie?”

“Knew I should’ve bought Pepper,” he remarks, “so tell me about this girl?”

“Liz,” Peter states, “she captain of the decathlon team. Head of the event committee. And really pretty.”

Tony and May exchange identical looks, bursting into laughter, “just don’t forget to have fun,” May tells him, before asking Tony, “are you coming with to drop him off?”

“I’ve got my favorite baseball cap,” Tony answers raising his captain america cap, a dull khaki green with a captain america shield embroidered on the front.

“I call shotgun,” Peter shouts. 

“I gave him some dance lessons form back when I used to kill the dance floor to Pat Benatar and Queen.”

“My god I love blasting Queen,” Tony says in agreement. “Never much of a dancer though, much more of a pothead in college.” 

“Oh my god daddd!”

“Don’t do drugs Peter.”

May snorts, “It’s game day so what’s the plan.”

“Open the door for her. Tell her she looks nice, but not too much because that’s creepy,” Peter parrots back, having thought this through a thousand times. Homecoming with his dream girl. He’s not about to screw this up. 

“Don’t be creepy,” Both Tony and May voice. 

“And when I dance with her I put my hands on her hips. Got this.” He says not feeling ready at all, wiping the sweat off his hands on the car seat before grabbing the corsage box. 

“Love you!”

“Love you guys,” and he walks up, ringing the doorbell and finds that he hasn’t thought about spiderman at all.

*

“Surprised?”

“Oh hey Pete,” Liz’s dad answers and Peter can only hope Ned got through to Tony or Happy by now. “I didn’t hear you come in.”

“It’s over,” he says, louder, bolder than he feels in stitched together sweatpants and sweater. “I’ve got you.” Hoping to avoid a big fight. 

“You know, I’ve got to telI you, I really, really admire your grit. I can see why Liz likes you,” he says, alone and comfortable in a warehouse for a man caught red handed. “I do. When you first came to the house, I wasn’t sure. I thought, really? But I get it now.”

“How could you do this to her?”

“To her? I’m not doing anything to her Pete. I’m doing this for her.”

“Huh, yeah.” Peter knows what love is. And this isn’t it. 

“Peter, you’re young. You don’t understand how the world works.”

“Yeah but I understand that selling weapons to criminals is wrong.”

“How do you think your buddy Stark paid for that tower? Or any of his little toys? Those people Pete. Those people up there, the rich and the powerful, they do whatever they want. Guys like us, like you and me, they don’t care about us. We build their roads, we fight all their wars and everything, but they don’t care about us.”

“Shut up about my dad,” Peter snarls, figuring what does it matter now. He knows his secret identity. What's one more secret?

“Really? Stark’s your father,” Mr Toomes wonders aloud, “guess that explains the internship. But that all just proves my point doesn’t it Pete. They don’t care about people like us, the little guys. Your old man abandoned you in Queens instead of taking you with him. That’s a poor excuse for a father. I know you know what I’m talking about Peter. You think I could walk out on Liz and call myself her father?”

“Why are you telling me all this,” Peter asks, trying to keep all those nagging doubts, all the deep dark thoughts his mind went to when he felt lonely and sad and forgotten, shoved away like a dirty secret, even when he knows it isn’t true. That’s not his dad.

“Because I want you to understand. . .and I needed a little time to get her airborne.”

And then Peter has no time to think.    
  



	3. III. Name one hero who was happy

*

His dad picks him up in one of his least flashy cars, “hop in kiddo we’re going on a little trip.”

Peter glances around, making sure no one’s paying attention, and gets in. “Hey dad I’m guessing you found out about-”

“Sorry I took your suit,” Tony says breaching the silence, “also got some cheeseburgers?”

“Sweet, thanks dad.” And means it. Reaching in for one. 

“But you had it coming. Actually,” Tony muses, “it turns out it was the perfect sort of tough love moment that you need right? I think I’m getting good at this dad thing. Only took me what, fifteen years to start figuring it out. Don’t you think?” 

“Yeah, I guess.” Peter’s a little busy munching on his burger to talk, musing over what he’s been thinking of saying to his dad. Toomes might be put away, but he hit a nerve. 

“Let’s just say it was.”

Peter takes a sip of his coke. “Actually dad. . .”

“Shoot bud. No pun intended.”

“You used to sell, you made weapons right? Or used to.” Peter’s never really wondered where the money came from. 

Tony sighs, hands gripping the steering wheel with more force than needed. “Yeah.”

“Did-did you ever think about the consequences?”

“Peter, when I said I made a lot of mistakes, I meant it. And that entire part of my life was a lot of them. I made weapons and I didn’t ask questions. I had no accountability and everyone who died, unjustly and needlessly, that’s on me. 

The Stark Industries I inherited from my dad, was a weapons manufacturer. Huge. All the way back to world war two and sure he did a lot of great things, defeated the nazi’s, helped push mankind into space, but we also sold weapons and didn’t ask question. And I-I-it took way to long for me to change. There's no excuse.

It took me being held hostage to prioritize, to really figure out what I wanted my legacy to be. What I was going to leave you. And I didn't want that, I didn’t want that blood on your hands. That’s why I’m Iron Man. That’s why I can be so hard on you, especially these last few months. I’m trying to right all the wrong I did and I don’t know if it’ll ever be enough. 

But I’m trying.”

“I know you are dad,” Peter states. “You saved the world remember.”

Tony smirks, “don’t forget the part about giving the world cheap clean energy.”

Peter smiles and shoves a fistfull of fries into his mouth. 

“Teenage boys are disgusting.”

He tries really hard not to laugh with a mouth full of fries. 

“Anything else you need to get off your chest before we get to the new compound?”

“You-You're my dad right?”

“Duh,” tony says, rolling his eyes, “you think I get just anyone cheeseburgers?”

“I mean, you’re not ashamed of me, right?” He focuses really hard on the passing greenery, much more common upstate than in Queens. “Like you-like I’m not just some accident?”

“Peter. You are my son and I have never and will never be ashamed to admit it. I’ll write it in sky letters if you want.

What brought this on?”

“Just,” Peter shrugs, “I mean no one knows. And I get why, but-it makes me feel shitty sometimes.”

“Language.” 

“Dad!”

“Okay, not the right time, but the point still stands. You can tell all the Avengers right after we announce you, well spiderman, as the newest Avenger. Still hasn’t been clear by May but I find that asking for forgiveness is easier than asking for permission. Or well, I’m going to brag to the avengers.”

“Um,” Peter eloquently replies. He’s not sure he’s ready for that now. He fought Adrian Toomes who dad had called a low level criminal and two weeks later he was still feeling it. He didn’t want to even think about what fighting aliens or an army of robots must be like. “Actually, can we hold off on that. I mean I’ll take my suit back but. . .I don’t think I’m ready to be an Avenger just yet.”

His dad looks thoughtful for a second, “then how about we announce you’re my son. Explain we kept it all on the DL for privacy reasons. Kind of already called a press conference. No pressure, I’ll just swing it if you don’t want to do anything.”

“I can do that,” Peter agrees, polishing off his second burger. He could probably clean out the whole bag thanks to his enhanced metabolism. “I mean, I’d like that.”

“Peter Parker Stark, I like the sound of it.”

“Mom named me.”

“Still, I like it. Oh and almost forgot, Pepper said yes, to marrying me.”

“Was she really tired,” Peter jokes. 

“Hey!”

*

Standing in front of a press conference is a lot like giving a speech in front of the class only worse. Cameras flash, blinding his sensitive eyes. Peter isn't sure where he's supposed to go and it's only his dad's hand on his back, leading him to the center that keeps him from freezing. 

He glances back at Pepper, looking every bit the CEO she is, encouraging smile on her lips when she catches his gaze. 

“Mr. Stark! Mr. Stark,” reporters call out and Tony flashes a confident smile, waving at them. 

Peter tries to smile but it feels forced and awkward and he drops it after a second, fighting the urge to rub his eyes. Sometimes superpowers sucked. 

They all tense as dad goes to the microphone, ready to start, clearly expecting another outrageous announcement from Tony, much like the Iron Man one or the talk he'd given after New York. 

“It's nice to see familiar faces,” Tony jokes, leaving a beat for the chuckles from the reporters, before continuing, “I called this press conference to discuss the future of Stark Industries and my legacy. It's something that's been at the forefront of my mind since changing the direction of the company.”

Peter doesn't know what to do with his hands, handing loose by his sides, foot tapping by Tony's side. 

The cameras all flash again and Peter thinks that's probably why his dad wears sunglasses so much, for the paps. There all tense, Peter can sense it in the air, a buzzing in the room as they hold their breath in anticipation. 

With Tony, anything could happen. 

“And I think it's also time to publicly,” Tony laughs, looking over at Peter with a soft fondness all parents have for their kids, clear in his eyes, “to publicly acknowledge my son, and heir to Stark Industries, Peter Parker Stark.”

The crowd of reporters goes crazy and Peter’s momentarily frozen, trying to catch up with everything, thoughts racing because he sort of guessed his dad would leave him everything. But he’d only known it in a factual abstract way, like the theory of gravity or the way you know water’s two hydrogens and one oxygen even though you can’t see the particles. They’d never talked about  _ that.  _

“Come up here kiddo,” his dad grins, crushing him against his side and waving out as the light bulbs flash, each one racing to break the news first, to get the best picture for their website or print magazine. 

Peter focuses on his dad, and smiles at him, a weight lifted. He was proud to be Tony’s son. And he was glad he wouldn’t have to hide it anymore. 

*

Tony was having a great day. Had a great night's sleep. Was thinking about growing his family, adding another Stark to the world. Hopefully more Potts than Stark. He was already too much for Pepper sometimes. 

When the universe that decides to go to hell. It takes all of his willpower not to tell everyone I told you so. He's been saying this for years and vindication is a cold comfort as he fights the so called children of Thanos, trying to keep the time stone out of their grasp.

Playing Hot potato except this time there's no Avengers online to joke to between punches and close calls with death. 

And to cap it all of his son joins the fray.

“Hey dad,” he calls out. “What's up,” while holding back the alien currently trying to kill them. 

“Kid, where'd you come from?” Peter should be at school, far from here. It's one thing to fight other people in suits, aliens. Thanos. This is the last place he wants his son near. 

Like father like son.

“Field trip to the MoMA.”

Peter gets thrown aside like a rag doll and Tony's on it. Refuses to watch anything happen to his son. Refuses to let the evil aliens get what they want. Not on his watch. 

“What's this guys problem dad?”

“He's from space. He came to steal a necklace from a wizard.”

At Stranges appearance, Tony calls out, “that's the wizard.”

“On it,” and Tony can only hope the universe cuts him a break. He very much doubts it. Is pretty sure being born a billionaire is cause to max out all your luck at once, but he only has one son.

And then he's flying up the the ship, save the wizard save the earth, save the wizard, stop thanos. 

Peters on his way down to earth and he's telling Pepper, breaking the news “-I just think we might have to push our 8:30 res.”

“Why?”

“Just ’cause I’ll… probably not make it back for awhile.” He winces, breaking another promise. It seems like every time he tries to stop, to leave it all behind for his loved ones, the world goes to shit. 

“Tell me your not on that ship!”

“Yeah.” At least Peter’s on earth now. He'll be fine as long as Tony kills whoever this Thanos guy is. Everyone he loves is safe and they will be as long as he's still alive to protect them with every breath he takes.

*

Peter is so not on earth and if this wasn't a life or death type scenario he'd be a little proud honestly. He's just never going to tell Peter that because the kid gave him a heart attack and there was nothing to do but go forward and why'd he have to be his son. 

Why couldn't he have hightailed it the other way?

To cap it all off, Peter tries to shake hands with the cape and Tony rolls his eyes from below his helmet. “Hey, we haven't officially me?”

“We gotta turn this ship around,” Strange utters and Tony wonders when people will start listening to him  _ before  _ everything goes to hell. At this point going back would only being Thanos to earth much faster and Tony sure as hell has no plants of letting that happen.

One battle of New York was bad enough thank you very much.

“Yeah, now he wants to run. Great plan.”

“No,” the wizard responds, voice hears with annoyance as he regards Tony with the same disdain Stane had as he'd pulled the arc reactor from his chest, “I want to protect the stone.”

Tony leans into it. “And I want you to thank me, go ahead. I'm listening.”

“For what! For nearly blasting me into space?”

“Who just saved your magical ass, me!” Looks like Tony's going have to start playing the responsible adult much more these days seeing as no one else will.

“I seriously don't know how you fit that head into your helmet.”

He'd get along great with Steve. “Admit it. You should have ducked out when I told you to. I tried to bench you. You refused.” And now they were on a donut heading for a crazy alien who wanted to destroy the world. Along with Peter!

“Unlike everyone else in your life, I don’t work for you.”

“And due to that fact, we’re now in a flying doughnut billions of miles away from Earth with no backup.”

Peter speaks up, “I'm backup.”

“No. You’re a stowaway. The adults are talking,” Tony says, having to play the bad guy for wanting his son safe. He'd sent him gone for christ's sake. Couldn't anyone cut him a break. 

“I’m sorry, I’m confused as to the relationship here. What is he, your ward?”

“No, I'm his son. Peter, by the way.”

“Son,” Strange voices, eyes flickering back and forth between Tony and Peter, “I'm Doctor Strange. Excuse me your brought your son into this!”

“I didn't bring him, he snuck on board,” Tony protests tiredly. May was going to kill him if-when they got back. He looks around the ship, tries to make sense of the foreign tech and symbols on the consol.

“Oh we’re using our made up names. Um...I'm spider-man then.” 

Tony watches the ship self adjust by degrees, lights flashing constantly, the hum of the ship steady. “This ship is self-correcting its course. Things on autopilot.”

“Can we control it? Fly us home?”

Tony can't look at them. At either of them. If he does this, and he will because no life is worth billions, that's the type of hard calls he keeps being forced to make, he's dooming them all, most likely. But hey, he's gotten lucky so maybe he can pull off another miracle. “Yeah.”

“Can you get us home,” Strange prods.

“Yeah I heard you. I’m thinking…I’m not so sure we should.” If they go to him. Thanos won't go to earth. They can stop him before he even sets foot on the planet. 

“Under no circumstance can we bring the Time Stone to Thanos. I don’t think you quite understand what’s at stake here.”

“No. It’s you who doesn’t understand. Thanos has been inside my head for six years…Since he sent an army to New York and now he’s back! And I don’t know what to do. So I’m not so sure if it’s a better plan to fight him on out turf or his but you saw what they did, what he can do. At least on his turf, he’s not expecting it. So I say we take the fight to him. Doctor. Do you concur?”

Strange takes a deep breath before relenting, “Alright , Stark. We go to him. But you have to understand….if it comes to saving you or the kid or the Time Stone… I will not hesitate to let either of you die. I can’t, because the fate of the universe depends on it.”

“Good. Nice. Moral compass.We’re straight,” he puts a hand on Peter’s shoulder and doubts everything he's doing, wishing he could just turn and run. “Alright kid, you're an avenger now.”

Peter swallows, “Okay,” smiling carefully as they stare out into the vastness of space to wherever this ship is taking them. “I can do that no problem.”

Strange shakes his head. “He's just a child.”

And honestly Tony's sick of being called a bad parent. May and Pepper can do that all they want, they're family, but this wizard? “Well I can't help it if he snuck on board after I sent him home.”

At the same time Peter protests, “I couldn't just go home! I had to protect it and you can't-what's the point of going home if there's no home to go back to.”

Fuck. Now he's really done it. Placed the same familiar weight of the world on his son’s shoulders. He thought he could do better. Be better than his father, but maybe he's just found a new way to fuck up. 

“God,” Tony mutters, “You were so tiny,” thinking back to the first time he'd held his son, coming in straight for the airport to Mary's place back in the day. It had been crazy to think that that small adorable thing was his. Him, a dad. 

Heart lodged in his throat as he'd looked down at Peter in his arms and wanted to cry, god he'd been so happy, his son taking root in his heart from the first second Tony had known. 

“Dad,” Peter mutters, blushing red and trying to hide it as he duck his head down. “Not while we’re on a mission.” 

Strange just watches on passively, taking a seat to meditate.

*

He knows he's failed when Thanos leaves. When the guardians fall into ashes and he's reaching for Peter, pulling his only son, into his arms. 

“Talk to me kid?”

“Dad,” Peter says, “I don't feel so good.” All his senses going crazy, trying to warn him about the inevitable. 

The blood leeches from Tony’s face, taking his son in his arms, holding him, now all grown, like he once did when he was a child. Parents shouldn't outlive their kids. They shouldn't have to.

He tries to stay calm, for Peter's sake. “You're alright.” 

Everything's too much, like when Peter was just bitten. Too much input, signals all scrambled and sending his head pounding out a oncoming migraine. “I don’t know what’s – I don’t know what’s happening. I don’t –”

Peter feels scared for the first time that day. Thinks maybe he should've felt scared a long time ago, when they'd broken through the atmosphere, when the sky full of stars had grown unrecognizable, the moment aliens had landed in New York, the way Ned had screamed. 

Tony feels a cold, hallowed out as he's helpless. They've lost. There's nothing to be done but he can't accept that, can't live with himself, helpless to help his son. 

The words don't come. 

“Save me, save me! I don’t wanna go, I don’t wanna go, Dad, please. Please, I don’t wanna go. I don’t wanna go… I’m sorry.”

Tony watches in horror as Peter turns to ashes in his arms, hands still held in the same position long after the winds scattered his son on this wreckage of a planet. 

“He did it,” the daughter of thanos utters, gazing out, swallowing hard and sounding as empty as Tony feels. 

  
  



	4. IV. Legacy

There's no cycles on Titan. The suns preventing day from ever receding. 

Tony only had his aching limbs to tell him he's been sitting in the same position too long, the wound on his side oozing out blood. The look on Peter's face, desperation as he begged him, his father, for the help Tony couldn't offer. 

On his knees, he gathers up the ashes. Peter deserves better than this distant planet, if Tony even survives long enough to get home. 

He has no ship. No supplies, and a stab wound that throbs with every breath he takes. 

The blue alien, Nebula comes back, lips a hard line, black beetle eyes judging his sisyphean task. “Was he your son?”

“Yes,” Tony mummers, taking a shuddering breath, eyes burning as he tries to hold himself together except there's no point and he can't. There no next battle. No next mission to do. 

They lost. 

He lays down among the ashes, holding the ashes gently in his hand, against his chest. 

It should have been him. 

“We have to get off this planet,” Nebula states, practically. Never keeping still as she salvaged what she can from their area of battle. Evaluating his state. “The Benatar will still fly while we get to the next jump point.”

She nudges him with the point of her boot, looking down at his pale and sweat soaked face, “your wound needs to be cleaned if you want any chance of surviving.”

There's no point. What does he have left? How can he go home...it should have been him. 

“Fine,” she spits, anger contorting her features, sun shining on her metallic parts, before she stops off, kicking up the dirt that forms the planets barren surface, “die. See if I care.”

Tony closes his eyes, feverish and tired to his bones. It feels like he hasn't gotten a moments rest since Afghanistan. There'd been battles and fights and the nightmares that had him up all hours of the night, furiously working on a newer, better Iron Man suit. 

All for nothing.

He lets himself drift off into sleep.

It's less painful than the sharp throb radiating out from his abdomen. The heat building up under his skin, the warm dead air suffocating. 

When he wakes up, screams dying in his mouth as he looks around the mausoleum of a planet, radiating the silence that followed Stark Industries bombs of the past. 

It's a different part of the planet, and his wounds been bandaged. The white a stark contrast to his dirty clothes, covered in ashes and dirt and dried blood. 

“I have been told I am irresistible,” he utters, unable to inject any sarcasm into his dead voice.

“I see all terrans are as delusional as Quill,” she mutters, busy making what repairs she can to the Benatar. 

The morons, so called guardians of the galaxy, her family. Gone too. 

They'd mentioned Thor. And some of their own. 

Tony might have failed. Failed the world, failed the only pure thing he'd ever done. But that didn't mean he had to fail to only other person left here. 

His work wasn't done.

Pepper might still be alive. 

May deserved to know, deserved to know what had happened. 

“Are the fuel cells still intact?”

“You're in no condition to make repairs. And I doubt you have any familiarity with these systems.”

Useless.

“Where will you go,” Tony asks her. Trying to get on the same page as this angry blue woman who'd had nothing but rage at the sight of her father. 

“To kill Thanos.”

“He has all the stones,” Tony utters, Peter's turning to ashes emblazoned into the backs of his eyelids, “he'll kill you.”

She ignores him, using the planets thing and wonky gravity to aid her in moving the Benatar with her hands, the hum of her parts a lullaby to Tony. Lips drawn thin. 

“I have-,” Steve, who hates him, who’d left him for dead in Russia. Nat. . .whoever was left, “The rest of the avengers will be looking for vengeance too. That way we might actually stand a chance.”

“Back on Terra,” she says, lips pursed in distaste, as she takes a seat next to him, ripping open a bar the color of clay, smooth and shiny. 

“Yeah.”

“We’ll have to stop for resupplies.” She breaks the bar in half, offering him the big portion. 

“Just tell me what needs fixing. I'm good with machines.”

There's a slight flinch, a bite of her check before her features return to their wary neutrality. 

“He killed my sister.” She swallows, looking at the exposed panel, wiring half done. “She gave up the soul stone for me.”

The bar tastes like ash. And the moment feels too heavy already. 

“Big mistake,” Tony quips, thinking of the wizard who'd resisted right up until Thanos has stabbed Tony, dragging out the killing blow to gloat, “big damn heroes always trying to save everyone.”

Her lips twitch up slightly in response.

*

May cries, breaking down in Peppers arms and Tony can't even comfort her, bedridden, IV stuck to his vein.

“Did-was-,” a crumpled mess of a woman who's lost everyone. 

“He didn't feel a thing,” Tony lies. This burden will be his alone. 

*

He holds his baby girl in a secluded cabin, far from the haunted world. Morgan Stark Potts. Far away from the world. 

Tony has nothing left to give. 

Lost in her baby babble, thought he swore he heard her say dad the other day. He smiles and shows her a photo of a holiday long ago. Mary, Richard. Rhodey and Pepper awkwardly on Tony's side, Peter so young in his arms. 

Even at ten he'd still been Tony's baby.

“This is your brother,” he can't bring himself to say was. Because Peter may be gone, but he's not forgotten and-, he lets go, focusing on the moment. “He's a very brave kid. You'd have loved him.”

Can Morgan still be a sister when her brother’s gone? 

She smiles and coos and spits all over Tony's shirt and he's not even disgusted. “Come on Morgan this is vintage,” he laughs. 

It's easy to push it all away with her in his arms, waiting for Pepper to come home from work. He wakes up and everyday the memories hurt a little less. 

One day, he hopes he can remember, talk about him without wanting to lay down and cry after. 

*

He-he's survived. And scared. So so fucking scared. He can't lose the people he has left. 

But Tony can't live with himself if he doesn't try and- 

For Peter.

*

Peter and Pepper crowd around Tony. “Dad,” Peter cries, seeing the blackened arm, skin shriveled up to his neck. Tony's unfocused gold eyes, staring off into the sky. “Dad, please it's me-you've,” his voice breaks and he's clutching at his dad's chest, holding him, wishing Tony would hug him back. 

“You've got a sister kiddo,” Tony utters, tired and worn out like a frayed thread. 

Peter can sense Pepper behind him, her arms light on his shoulders, pulling him back, pulling him to her and clutching him in her arm, as much for his benefit and hers. 

They won. That should mean-Peter just wants his dad.

“Tell me about her,” Peter prompts, smiling despite the tears, wet on his cheeks. He doesn't want to lose anyone else. He's already lost so much. 

“Later,” Pepper says, trembling as she puts on a strong front, “you can rest now Tony. It's okay, I've got them. Just rest okay honey.”

Tony smiles, eyes falling shut, and his breathing evens out and Peter can sense the creeping death and his own heart hammering in his chest and he's shouting for help. He can't-dad has to be fine. 

Pepper holds him down as Bruce and Strange make their way, breaking into their own private bubble on the rubble. Checking vitals, looking at each other grimly and very pointedly not looking at him. 

“He's-he has to be okay,” Peter cries, “he’s Iron Man.” His hearts lodged in his throat, chest collapsing hard. It's like-god he doesn't want to lose anyone else. 

Not when he just got them all back.

Pepper soothes him as best she can, rubbing his back as she holds him, “it's going to be okay honey,” her own voice wet and fragile, cracked like glass about to shatter. “It's going to be okay.”

Her tears fall on his hair.

Peter doesn't need spider senses to know she doesn't believe what she's saying. His dad’s used up all his miracles and Peter can't stop crying, can barely breathe. 

Bruce and Strange take his dad away, body obscured. The compound is destroyed. They'll all have to head to the nearest hospital, nearest base to recuperated. To take stock. 

He doesn't register moving, getting up and walking, Peppers grip still hard on him, trembling with every step despite the line of her shoulders, chin up. The others look on in understanding, but they just got everyone back. 

They get to go home to families, to reunite. 

*

Tony's in critical state and neither Pepper nor Peter can bring themselves to leave his side no matter how often Rhodey swings by. “At least go take a shower,” he tells them both. 

“I’ll stay and I'm sure Morgan and May would love it if you two got lunch with them.”

That gets Pepper out for a while at least. 

With so many unknowns, she's kept Morgan away for the majority of the time. There's always some machine going off and Bruce and a team of some of the best doctors in the world, an Asgardian as well, running in too fix the latest problem. 

He hasn't woken up.

They don't know if he will. 

The blue woman comes in, silently. It's only his senses that alert him to her presence, the slight tang in the air not found here on earth. 

She looks at Tony in disapproval, as if her deep set frown and obsidian eyes could rouse him from his comatose state. Hesitation creeping up on her when she realizes he's watching her.

The woman halts, a watchful guardian at the foot of dads sick bed, face closing off, lips pursing. “He promised me vengeance.” It's a hollow statement, head tilting a degree to the side, a lifelong sadness creeping into the darks of her eyes, sadness gone rancid. 

“He gave me that and more child of stark,” she finishes, a grandness to her words, weighing in his chest like a ton of bricks.

He doesn't know what to say. 

Peter had held Morgan in his hands and cried. Happy. Sad. Scared. He didn't know where one ended and the other began. 

She was so small. Her huge eyes trusting and loving from the first moment she'd seen him and yelled “brother,” visiting Tony without a deeper understanding of the critical condition he was in.

Morgan. 

He was a big brother. Yet he'd never felt so small, so young. He'd lost his own mother when he was not much older than Morgan. Her laughter long since faded from his memories. 

Peter had been too young to understand just how much he'd lost, to put into words the missing piece of his life, like reaching for a handrail to find it gone, nothing between you and a fall from the stairs. 

She'd shared her snacks with him and drawn pictures of them all together in front of a square house, and he couldn't not smile at that though he felt like shit. A house of cards about to collapse no matter how much May hugged him.

She takes her leave, giving him a respectful nod, her feet silent on the linoleum floors. 

*

Tony looks every year his age and maybe a dozen more hooked up to all the machines. Peggy had at least been-she'd led a full life. Had a career most could only dream of and a family that had surrounded her right up until the end.

Tony. Fuck, Tony was-had finally retired. This, this all felt like another weight on Steve’s shoulders.

“It's not your fault,” Nat says, biting into an apple. “He did what we all would've done.” Her red hair tucked into a braid, feet on the table. “I mean, we were both ready to die for the soul stone.”  

Her eyes flint down to his body.

Gone is the Stark aided super soldier. The man who was frozen for seventy five years. Captain America. 

He's back to regular old Steve Rogers. It feels right. Back to square one. But instead of feeling like he wishes-like he wants to take on the world with his fists, he feels settled. At home in his body after a lifetime at war.

Ready to live a little of the life he was always fighting for people to have.

Nat’s finally found the same thing. The taunt pull of her muscles, a gun cocked for firing at any second, gone. Replaced by tired smiles and open eyes. She'd fallen into planing, into leading, less a weapon than a woman trying to help. 

Absolution for all she had done had snuck up on her. It was a good look for her. 

Steve just hoped Bucky could find it too someday.

“I know,” he responds, looking over at the shuttered room. Stark’s kid inside. Hell, when had Tony even become a father?  

Morgan was a sweetheart. Peter was all heart and a second hand embarrassing earnestness. 

How had Tony raised them? 

“How did Tony manage to sneak a kid without you,” Steve jokes, smiling at Nat, “the world's greatest spy, knowing?”

She snorts. “He told me after-well after Berlin. You fought him, do you remember?”

“Strong kid. Gotta lot of heart.”

She nods. “Stark invented time travel for him.”

Steve snorts, still in disbelief. It was hard to remember that there'd been a time when he thought Tony was a complete jackass. Sure, they hadn't always seen eye to eye, but it had all come from a place of wanting to do the right thing. 

“Banner says if he wakes up he’ll never be the same. Had to amputate the arm last night. The brains good though.”

Steve looks down at his feet, smiling when he sees himself, the same gangly body he'd been born with. Modern medicine had come a long way and he wasn't half as feeble as he'd been back then, poor and hungry and buzzing with righteousness. “What’ll you do?”

They've all been given a second chance. Thor's given a whole speech about becoming the king the Asgardians deserved. Bucky’s alive. 

She shrugs, a smile already forming on her lips, “I’m going to return the stones. Barton's offered to put me up. I'm sure the worlds still needs someone to clean up this mess.”

“Is that what you want?”

“Yeah. I think so. It was nice giving orders for once. Helping in a way that didn't involve someone dying. You?”

Steve laughs, “not sure yet. The VA’s good, but. . .I don't think that's me. I'm nowhere near as helpful as Sam.”

Nat snorts, rolling her eyes. 

He glances over to the room, light always on. There were still so many recovering. Boots on the ground getting everything back in order. The talking Raccoon wearing a special leg brace while his leg heals. 

The Wakandan princess Shuri running around, dispensing medicine like it was going out of style. 

“You should go in there. Talk to the kid. He's dead on his feet according to his aunt and step mom.”

“Will you still be here when I get back?”

“Probably not,” she admits. “There’s still so much to do.”

“Just don't be a stranger.” And then he's up, walking into the room. Bucky hadn't wanted to come. His missions while brainwashed still a specter over his actions now.

It's insane. Barton with his family. Gone as soon as the battle was done to see them again. The last of the Asgardians ready to welcome Thor with open arms as he was ready to move on from all he’d lost. 

Sam with his shield, looking at him in disbelief. Captain America could be anyone. It had never been about the man. Peggy and Howard could've chosen anyone. But they'd wanted a good person, and there was no one better than Sam. 

And now this. Steve had fought Tony's son. The same son he'd lost on a planet far far away. It was a loss Steve couldn't imagine.

He hoped Tony would pull through. He’d always been a tough son of a bitch. 

He hopes they can talk about everything. Mend their relationship. Without the weight of the world on their shoulders pulling them in different directions, convictions set, they could be friends like they once almost were. 

Before the accords. 

Before Tony walked away from the world for five years. Who could blame him.

“Hey kid,” he says, walking in to see the grim faced teenager. Bags under his eyes and curled up in the couch by Tony's side. “How are you holding up?”

“Like shit. I mean-bad captain america sir mr rogers.”

“Steves fine.” 

Peter nods, his eyes flicking back and forth between him and Tony's body, worse than he had been when Nebula has carried him down from the ship.

“I-we never got to talk like I wanted us too. Things got so bad between us after Germany. And-,” Steve sighs, remembering the crushing emptiness of the world these last few years. “And then we never really talked after. I should've reached out. We were friends. I still think of him as my friend. As family.”  

Tony had laid his life on the wire so often when they'd fought together. Steve had grown fond even of the other man's most annoying mannerisms, his pechance for poking things with a stick to see what they were made of. His stubbornness much like his own.

“I'm sorry we never got a chance to meet before, properly.” 

Peter’s red rimmed eyes shine in the glaring hospital lights. The beginnings of a lego toy on a seat, drawings put up by Morgan. An arc reactor on a table, reading “proof tony stark has a heart.” 

“I'm sorry too Mr Rogers Sir. After we fought, they showed a video of you in detention. And then-I met Dr Banner after New York but you'd left to go work. I always thought you were cool when I learned about you in history.” He wipes the tears with the back of his hand. “We got to watch a really bad action movie they made of you in the 80s.”

Steve smiles. Tony had made him watch it once. He'd come down to D.C. for some congressional meetings to do with the cleanup after New York. “You put up a good fight kid.”

“Thanks. Dad said you could've taken me if you wanted to.”

It sounds like something Tony would say. They'd all been holding back that day. Hoping the other side would back down. 

“I knew your grandfather. Crazy guy. Just like Tony too. Drink in hand, unable to help their sarcastic commentary, smartest man on the room. I can't speak for who he became, but he really wanted to make a better world.”

“Dad, he told me to be better than him. And I know he isn't perfect. I mean, just look at Ultron but he's my dad and-,” Peter breaks, head in his hands. 

“He’s going to pull through kid. We're talking about the man who built a iron suit while in some cave, who fought thanos and won. He invented time travel just to get you back.”

Peter tries to smiles, looking up at Steve, “He forgave you. Never said it, but he missed you.”

Steve takes in Peter. His rumpled clothes a good week old, tired eyes, the future of the Avengers. A boy of fifteen, already battle worn. 

“And I’ll get to tease him about it, just as I know he’s going to make fun of me being shorter than him now.”

Peter smiles. 

And it feels better than any victory Captain America ever got.

*

Tony opens his eyes to a room full of family. May Parker laughing quietly as Happy talks. Pepper surrounded by paperwork, hair pulled back and out of her face, pausing for a bit of pasta. 

Rhodey right next to her, remote control in hand as he looks for the cartoons Morgan likes to watch, it's all about Ducktales right now. Calling over to May and Happy, asking if that was before he met Tony and he still knew what peace was. 

Even Pepper cracks a smile at that. 

And his two kids, sitting on a thick blanket on the linoleum floor. The skeleton of the disney lego castle as Peter asks Morgan if she's watched Star wars yet. 

Her tiny head shaking as she pushes a piece into place. 

For the first time in a decade, doesn't feel the need to call an Iron Man suit, build a better version. 

He takes it in and smiles. 

 


End file.
